Concord Mall apologizes in breastfeeding flap

Concord Mall management has issued an apology and reprimanded two security guards for allegedly harassing a trio of breastfeeding young moms outside the mall’s Hollister store Saturday afternoon.

The women were participating in a nationwide “nurse-in” to raise awareness of a recent incident at a Houston mall where a Hollister store manager reportedly told a mother she was not permitted to nurse her 7-month-old child on store property.

The women involved in the Concord Mall spat, Jessica Hitchens, Diana Hitchens and Autumne Murray, were advised breastfeeding was not permitted in the mall.

The law in Delaware states otherwise.

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“On Saturday January 5, there was a protest organized at the Hollister store regarding a mother’s right to breastfeed her child,” Concord Mall management said in a statement posted on the mall’s website. “Two officers from a security agency that works with the Mall responded to the protest in a manner that the protesters have indicated was inappropriate. These two officers have been removed from the Mall pending further investigation.

“The Concord Mall has never had an issue with any mother breastfeeding her children in the Mall and intends to fully comply with the law permitting this activity. We apologize to our customers and tenants and the protesters for any inconvenience this situation may have caused. The Concord Mall is making every effort to properly train all officers regarding a mother’s right to breastfeed her child.”

Delaware State Police Sgt. Paul Shavack said the issue was settled after security contacted a trooper who was also working at the mall on special duty.

“He was notified by mall security that there was a woman outside of Hollister’s exposing her breast,” Shavack said. “There was no indication of breastfeeding. When the trooper got there, what he observed was clearly breastfeeding and clearly within the law.

“When he observed the security guard arguing and raising his voice at the women, he contacted mall management and notified them of the inappropriate behavior.”

The dispute escalated when the person responsible for the Concord Mall Facebook page started defending the actions of the security guards in a testy exchange with pro-breastfeeding Facebook users.

“It was an eyesore,” one post read.

Mall management said it had nothing to do with the posts and no affiliation with the Facebook page (even though a link to the now-deactivated page could be found on the mall’s homepage).

“These posts were crude and offensive and were not posted nor authorized by the Concord Mall,” management said in its statement. “The Mall does not have an official Facebook page and communicates via its website. There is a Facebook icon on our homepage, however the account has never been officially in use by the Mall.

“We are in the process of contacting Facebook to report these violations and hope to find the person or persons responsible for these posts.”

Shavack said police involvement ended when the trooper realized what the women were doing.

“As far as we are concerned, it’s a civil matter between the mall and the women,” he said. “It was not a criminal matter, so no report was generated.”

The nationwide nurse-in drew hundreds of breastfeeding women to Hollister locations around the country Saturday. The store is a subsidiary of Abercrombie & Fitch and sells Southern California-themed clothing and accessories.

A Facebook page created for the nurse-in gave the following account of how the event came about.

“Brittany Warfield was nursing her beautiful 7 month old daughter on a bench right outside Hollister in the Galleria. She even modestly covered herself with a jacket. The store manager came out and bullied the nursing mother by yelling at her to leave. She was humilated (sic) and embarressed (sic). No mother should EVER feel that way.”

According the National Conference of State Legislatures, Delaware is one of 45 states, along with Pennsylvania, that permits breastfeeding in any public or private location.

The Pennsylvania statute goes further, stating that breastfeeding “may not be considered a nuisance, obscenity or indecent exposure under this law.”

An attempt to reach Jessica Hitchens was unsuccessful Tuesday. According to her Facebook page, she lives in Wilmington and worked as a hostess and server at Denny’s before giving birth to a daughter last May.

“I am a lactavist, who aspires to become a nurse and then a lactation consultant,” her profile states.